Search and Rescue
by cbiscuit221b
Summary: When a gang shooting results in a massive explosion, the team must race to find Ed and a badly injured Spike. Was the bomb planted to kill a gang or Team One? And by whom? - Whole lot of Spike whump and Ed/Spike friendship -
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I found this show pretty interesting, especially Spike (and his friendship with Ed and Greg)**

**When a gang shooting results in a massive explosion, the team must race to find Ed and a badly injured Spike in time. Was the bomb placed to kill a gang or Team One?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Flashpoint or any of the characters. (Too bad..)**

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><p>'Team One, Hot Call! Gear up!', Peter's voice sounded through the speakers accompanied by the ever blaring alarms.<p>

It was half past 7 in the morning, the team already worked out as usual and was now freshly showered and dressed, ready to gear up for their next mission.7

'What have we got?', Parker asked in his radio, as he and the others loaded their gear into the trucks.

'Man reported an ongoing gang shooting just outside of Toronto. He saw eight people, one of whom was already injured. The Toronto Outlaws are fighting the Blood Nation, they appear to be extremely aggressive. Have been fighting over drugs for a few years already.

Something else might have fuelled this shooting though, as a member of the Outlaws was found murdered in some alley a few weeks back. Metropolitan Police was not able to pin it on anybody just yet, but the Outlaws probably believe it was their arch enemy. Metro Police are on the scene. Approach with caution.'

'Alright, get me a map of the area and the building. Are civilians in the near vicinity?'

'No. The building is abandoned, used to be a factory for metal pipes and rebars and the likes until the owner went bankrupt some ten years ago. Hasn't been used ever since.', Peter replied quickly.

'So no civilians involved .. that's something.', Greg muttered under his breath, as he and Jules got in the car and sped out of the garage, sirens blaring and lights flashing.

It was a good 35 minute drive.

Shortly before arriving at the scene he went on to divide the teams. 'Lew you're on truck duty today. Spike and Ed, I want you to cover the 3rd and 4th floor. Sam, Jules and Wordy, you will cover the 1st and 2nd floor. I will try and see if I can reach anything by negotiation.'

'Alright Boss.', the team said in unison.

'Damn, no work for Babycakes.', Spike said. He pulled down the corners of his mouth and looked over to Ed, who was busy following the first SUV.

'Why don't you nickname your gun? Or better not, you'd probably get all trigger happy and Greg would have a fit, because then he can't negotiate.', Ed laughed.

Spike grinned. He couldn't be happier with his team at the moment. Everybody got along so well, and the trust and faith they had in each other, he thought could never be broken. He loved them like family and the laughs and jokes they shared every day. The job was dangerous, so being able to connect to your team was something he valued deeply. His thoughts trailed off upon reaching their destination. Gunshots and loud yelling were heard, but nobody was seen, except for 3 police cars and 7 officers.

They parked the cars about 50 m safely from the large building and gathered around Greg as an Officer made his way over to them.

Metro Police Inspector Barts introduced himself to the team, shaking everybody's hand quickly.

'I didn't send anyone in yet, since we've just arrived. Talking to them was unsuccessful though. Absolutely no reaction. We wanted to wait on you guys.', he apologized.

Lew climbed into the truck to begin with the protocol. 'Lew, find me everything about those gangs and the murder from a few weeks ago.', Greg ordered.

'Copy that.', he began to dig for the information.

The old factory looked fairly shabby, windows were broken, the ugly grey rendering crumbling down exposing pure concrete. It was big though, four stories high and about 200 m in width. Spike couldn't see the length from where they stood, but estimated it to be around 60 m or so.

None of the gang members seemed to have noticed the SRU team arriving. Greg raised the megaphone as the rest of the team began to move into position at the entrance.

'I'm Sergeant Greg Parker, with the Police Strategic Response Unit, please surrender your weapons and exit the building.', he stated in his ever calm voice.

Neither the gunfire nor the yelling ceased. Ed and Wordy looked back at Greg, who gave them the go ahead to enter.

Sam, Jules and Wordy moved quickly to the left of the building to give Ed and Spike cover. Three individuals were on the ground floor near the entrance, shooting and screaming madly at each other. They were partially hidden behind some rubble and metal pipes.

As he and Spike were moving past their two teammates to reach for the stairs, Ed thought briefly that negotiation is never gonna work here. The gangs were too pumped up to even notice or listen to the cops.

Behind him he heard Wordy call out. 'This is the Strategic Response Unit, surrender your weapons!'

Unsurprisingly nothing happened, apart from more bullets flying around.

_'This is gonna be fun.'_

Spike and Ed were quick to reach and clear the 4th floor. Fifteen minutes have passed since their arrival on the scene and their entrance to the 3rd floor. Over the comms they heard their team mates calls of 'Subject contained' or 'Subject eliminated' a few times. They knew that there were only four other subjects left now. It was relatively quiet. The gunshots and shouts were distant.

Spike moved in first. The hallway looked empty, with a few doors on its left and right side swung open. He reached the first door and carefully peaked inside. Empty. 'Clear.', he called over to Ed, who was close behind him.

Ed moved quickly past him to the second door on the right. The door was swung open to the inside of the room. Suddenly he stopped and held his fist up. Spike immediately halted right behind him. From inside the room they could hear someone crying softly. Ed gestured for Spike to move to the other side of the door. They were going in.

'Police! Drop your weapon!'

On the ground lay a dark-skinned boy, 4 holes in his torso and covered over and over in blood. He couldn't have been much older than 13. Leaning over him stood an adult, young man, around 20 years old. He was the one sobbing, probably mourning the death of his younger friend or brother.

'Drop the weapon!', Ed repeated, his own gun firmly trained on the young man.

'They killed him! He was my brother, the only family I had left!', he cried out, voice thick with disgust. The man straightened and turned to Ed and Spike. He seemed to be in a daze, his eyes glazed over with pain and unshed tears, his mind not yet fully grasping the death of his little brother. Spike's eyes left the contorted face of his opponent and looked at the gun in his hand.

He had seen that model before, a handgun but specifically designed to be used with armor piercing bullets.

His eyes widened in horror.

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><p><strong>Okay, so here's the first chapter. :)<strong>

**I'm always keen on getting reviews. Please let me know what you think about writing style, grammar, word choice (I'm not native), etc.**

**Looking very much forward to that and I'll be quick to post the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reviewing ellablack9110! :) So here's the next chapter, didn't want to let you wait so long.**

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><p>The young man slowly raised his gun. 'They will bleed for this and no one is going to stop me!', his voice rising continually until the last words were almost screamed. His face twisted with emotional pain and the thoughts of revenge he was going to carry out on the Outlaws.<p>

Ed opened his mouth to try and convince him to surrender his weapon once again, but he didn't have a chance to even get one word out. Several things happened at once. Ed received a hard push from the left and felt himself stumbling out of the doorframe and to the ground as two shots went off almost simultaneously.

He scrambled to his feet and turned around to face the now empty doorframe, he and Spike stood in just seconds ago. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Spike sitting propped up against the wall and seemingly looking into the room. Ed knew what happened the instant he saw him. He hoped to God and preyed to every deity he knew, that the vest caught the bullet fired at him. He wanted to check on him so badly, but he knew that his priority had to be to make sure that the subject was contained.

'Spike?', he called nonetheless, desperately hoping to get a response, as he moved through the door and into the room. 'Buddy, talk to me!'

He kept his eyes firmly on the subject. He lay next to his fallen brother, one shot center mass. The gun lay uselessly in his outsprawled hand. Ed felt for a pulse and kicked the weapon away, just to be on the safe side.

He turned around and ran back to his teammate, while calling frantically into his radio. 'SRU Officer down, I repeat SRU Officer down! We need EMS ASAP.'

Crouching down in front of Spike he felt for a pulse. 'Spike, wake up, come on buddy talk to me.', His head was lolling about, eyes closed and mouth slightly opened. Ed was nervous, when he couldn't rouse him. He quickly opened his vest and pulled it over Spike's head. That's when he saw the gaping hole in the front of his teammates vest.

'Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no!'

'Ed, status!'

He opened the jacket and ripped at the shirt, frantically trying to find the entrance wound. His hands were slick with blood and he felt as if his heart was beating itself to death in some empty hollow.

'Ed, status report!', Greg Parkers stern voice chimed through his ear.

Finally he found the entrance wound. Upper right quadrant of the abdomen. He leaned Spike slightly forward and peaked over his shoulder down his back to determine if the shot was through and through. It wasn't, which is good concerning blood loss. He pressed his hands firmly onto the wound, in a feeble attempt to keep the blood from flowing out. Spike didn't even flinch.

Greg's voice in his ear again, getting louder and decidedly more irritated. 'Constable, status report now!'

'Boss, we've cleared the first two floors. One of the subjects just shouted something about a bomb. The rest ran away from the scene. This is not looking good!', Sam chimed in.

'Do you have a visual on the bomb?'

'Yes, Boss, there is no timer, but a phone attached to it.'

'Understood, evacuate the building immediately!'

'Boss, what about Spike and Ed?'

Just as he gave the command to evacuate, he heard Ed's voice over the radio.

'Boss, Spike ..', was all Ed could manage, before his voice disappeared. His throat was so damn tight, he could hardly breathe. 'Spike is hit. That bastard had AP ammo!

Jules, Sam and Wordy stopped dead in their tracks. 'Boss, we have to help them!'

Greg didn't have much time to decide. For all he knew the bomb could blow up any second and he wasn't gonna lose a whole team. 'No, the order is to evacuate immediately! Ed can you carry Spike?'

His heart wrenched, he felt horrible to leave them without help. But he also knew that they'd both understand.

'Yeah, on it.'

'8:26 am, Constable Scarlatti shot with AP ammunition.', Lew tried his best to stay professional, but he couldn't keep the fear out of his voice and mind.

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><p><strong>Uuuuh, that looks pretty bad for Spike ... but can it get worse? - Yep, it can.<strong>

**As usual: reviews are very welcome. Let me know what you think. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took me so long to upload! I had university and then work, and then more university and then I was sick over the weekend. :/ Anyway here it is, enjoy and thank you all for reading and reviewing!**

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><p>Spike's senses slowly came back. He heard Ed talking on the radio. Something about AP ammo. He didn't remember when he last used something like this. It's ugly if your opponent has that kind of ammo and you don't know about it. Kevlar doesn't always keep you safe when you're being shot at with normal ammo, but armor piercing? That's nasty.<p>

Now Ed called his name. _'Did I fall asleep at work?' _His brain was all mushy, he couldn't quite make a connection. Ed sounded like a distant echo through a tunnel.

The next sense to return was his smelling. Nothing special, but a sort of metallic tang hung in the air. _'That's weird, I haven't smelled that in ages.'_

Ed was still trying to get him to wake up. Why was it actually so damn hard to open his eyes?

He felt something now. A hand on his cheek, now on the side of his head, lightly stroking his hair. He felt pressure on his stomach. It was not a pleasant feeling.

Overall he felt nauseous, but not quite at the point of having to throw up yet.

He tried to open his eyes and his mouth to say something. He wanted Ed to know, that he heard him and that he was trying to wake up. He was trying so hard.

The pressure in his stomach increased. The feeling wasn't just unpleasant anymore it really started to hurt. A dull ache originating somewhere in his stomach. He briefly wondered why he couldn't pinpoint the exact location.

'Spike, open your eyes! Open your eyes now. Constable Scarlatti, look at me right this instant!', Ed's voice was stern now, commanding.

Spike blinked his eyes open and everything came rushing back to him. The young man, the gun, the AP ammunition. He had shoved Ed out of the way, must have been hit himself. That's where the pain was coming from. Speaking of that, his stomach was on fire. The pain was excruciating and if he had the energy he would have screamed.

He gritted his teeth and tried his hardest not to cry out. 'Nnnnngghhh'

Trying to look down, his breath came in short, ragged gasps. He knew it was bad, even before he saw the ragged, bloody outlines of the hole the bullet left as it penetrated his abdomen. The pain was so intense, unlike anything he ever felt before. Someone had ripped his insides out of his abdominal cavity and tore them apart.

'Aaaaaaah' He threw his head back and tried to keep Ed's hands away from his midsection. 'No pressure, .. no please ..', he gasped out in a feeble attempt to ease his agony. He knew it was futile, as Ed pushed his weak, clumsy hands away and continued to apply direct pressure. Keeping pressure on a wound like this was basic first aid, he knew that.

Between all the pain, he suddenly remembered what he learned in the academy about AP ammo:

_The penetrator is a pointed mass of high-density material that is designed to retain its shape and carry the maximum possible amount of energy as deeply as possible into the target. _

He sure felt the whole extent of that maximum energy.

'Spike! Spike, stop struggling! Focus on me, come on, buddy, you can do this. I'm gonna get you outta here.' Ed's voice tried to reach him through the thick fog of pain. There was a hint of something. Fear maybe?

'E .. Ed …', Spike groaned and thrashed weakly. 'Hursss bad'

'I know, buddy. But we have to get out of here right now. Spike, the building could blow up any minute.'

He opened his mouth and closed it again. 'The others?', he whispered in a successful second attempt.

'They're already out, Greg ordered to evacuate the building. The gangs are long gone, too.'

'Ss'good ..', Spike smiled. 'You.. haffft .. a go … too now'

'We're going together or not at all. I'm gonna to lift you up now. Do you think you can walk, if you lean on me?', Ed moved in position to hoist Spike up.

'Yeah', he breathed.

'Ed, status! How far are you out?', Greg's voice boomed in his ear. He could hear the slight panic in the older man's voice.

'Still on the 3rd floor. Spike's lost a lot of blood, it's not looking too good. He's up now, and we're moving towards the stairs. Do you have our position?'

'Copy that, we got you.'

Together they began walking down the hallway towards the staircase they came up only minutes before. The hallway seemed to stretch out endlessly in front of them, Spike leaning heavily on Ed. He had one arm draped around the older man's shoulders and the other holding his injured side protectively.

His head hung low as he saw and felt the blood leaking out of the wound. The realisation of his doomed situation made him tremble and the blood loss light-headed, his knees were starting to go weak. Another three steps and they gave way. Ed was taken by surprise and not able to keep his balance as they both crashed into the wall, Spike dropping like a stone. The fall sent new waves of pain through his body and he cried out. He lay on his right side and tried desperately to get enough air into his lungs.

Ed immediately scrambled to his feet and looked his younger team mate over. What he saw made his stomach twist. He had never thought that physical pain could be so visible to the bare eye. Spike was white as a sheet, his skin was clammy and his face covered in a thin layer of sweat. Dark circles formed under his eyes. He was breathing harshly.

_'Not enough blood, means not enough oxygen.'_ Ed thought grimly, before he was able to tear his eyes from the younger man's pain-filled face.

'Spike, I'm sorry! But we have to keep going, we have to get out of here, now!' The younger man moaned as he tried to pull him up. This time he didn't even attempt to support him walking, but pulled him over his back and shoulders in a firm fireman's carry.

_'Time to get out of here.'_, he thought as he began to jog further towards the stairs.

It was approximately three meters left, before they reached the stairs. Three meters, before they were so close to the exit, to their team, and to help for Spike. But he wasn't fast enough.

As he reached for the doorhandle, a giant blast lifted him up. His feet lost connection with the ground as he became airborne and sailed backwards like a ragdoll. He felt Spike slipping from his grasp and away from him. He didn't need to see the flash or hear the explosion to know what happened.

His shoulders and head collided with something hard and everything went dark.

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><p><strong>Let me know what you think! :)<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys,**

**a little warning in advance: I want this story to focus on Spike and Ed, so I don't know how much I'll write about the actual case and the rest of Team One.**

**Here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

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><p>People often say there is an oddly quiet and calm moment right before something happens. Before everything goes south. Greg Parker now understood exactly what they meant.<p>

The force of the explosion blew out every single window from the first to the top floor on the right side of the building. Dust and shards of glass along with concrete flew in every direction, as the rest of Team One and the Metro Police covered their heads and ducked behind their cars.

It couldn't have been more than 30 seconds, before the dust began to settle and it was quiet again. Heads popped up, police officers were checking on each other and calling EMS.

There was a moment of shocked silence, where no member of Team One was able to say anything, except stare wide-eyed at the collapsed building where their friends were now buried under.

'Is everyone okay?', Greg asked after pulling himself out of his stupor. He looked around to check on his own team.

'No harm!', the others said almost synchronously.

Sam's hand already flew to his radio. 'Ed, Spike? Come in.' Silence was the only answer he got.

'We have to get the fire department here, every available person! I don't care whether they have a day off or a limb missing. We need everyone right here, to get our men out!', Greg shouted partly to Inspector Barts and partly into his headset addressing Peter.

'We want the perimeter secured and we need to find out how that bomb got there! Who planted it and for what purpose.', he turned to his team. They all looked understandably worried, but he knew they would keep it together for Ed's and Spike's sake.

They were professionals after all.

'Wordy, keep trying to raise them via headset. Sam and Lew, find out about their last known position and the structure of that building, if it's safe to start digging. Jules, find me everything on those gangs, the ongoing case about the murdered gang member and their relations with bombs.'

Team One quickly went to work just as three ambulances and the first fire department truck arrived.

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><p>Spike slowly came to the second time that day.<p>

He didn't feel much of anything at first. Then there was an unpleasant tickle in the back of his throat and he involuntarily started coughing.

The contractions in his stomach and chest triggered a burning pain, as he lay in gray darkness hacking up half a lung. His head throbbed and he felt like he had gone five rounds in a tumbler on high speed.

When he was finally able to breathe normally again he groaned. Trying to remember what exactly happened he ignored the dizziness and fire in his stomach the best he could and instead focussed on his surroundings.

There was debris and dust everywhere. He lay between and on top of some rubble and hard concrete. Small stones were pricking his arms and back, but he hardly felt them as another thought suddenly had is mind in an iron grip.

He didn't come here alone. Ed was with him, when the building collapsed. His team was also on the scene. He hoped to God the rest of the them made it out in time.

He lifted his left arm to touch the spot on his ear, where his headset would normally sit, only to find it empty.

_'Gone, must have been blown away in the explosion.'_, he took a deep breath to calm himself.

_'I need to find Ed. Don't just lie around here, Scarlatti. Move it!'_

Selfmotivation could do wonders. Or the thought of a friend in a potentially life-threatening condition.

He lay his left hand protectively over the gunshot wound in his stomach, as he moved his other arm behind him in an effort to prop himself up on his elbow. The wound was bleeding sluggishly and he grimaced in pain.

_'Aaaargh, shit!'_

He steered his thoughts away from the agony and instead focussed on finding Ed and making sure he wasn't hurt or worse, dead.

Propped up on his right elbow and leaning slightly to the right, he first got a good look at his lower half. Spike's right leg was buried under what looked like a ton of debris to him.

Without giving it much thought, he started pulling it out from under the rubble and regretted it instantly.

A blood-curdling scream tore from his throat and his eyes filled with tears, as he slumped back to the ground. This pain was very different from the one in his abdomen.

It was sharper and centered, whereas the ache from the gunshot wound felt diffuse and dull.

_'Got a broken leg to top it all off. Today's my lucky day.'_, he thought sarcastically as he clenched his teeth and tried to control his breathing.

After a good minute or two he stopped shaking.

The weakness he felt after he was shot and before he and Ed were blown up was almost completely gone. Courtesy of the new adrenaline pumping through his veins.

_'Great. So moving is not an option. Maybe I can see a little more with the lights on.'_

He started moving his hand to the right upper pocket of his tac vest, only to find it gone.

_'No, dammit! Ed must have removed it, to get a better look at the gunshot wound. What is actually wrong with today?'_, he thought to himself bitterly. He wanted to yell in frustration about his uselessness.

_'I'm lying around here, totally incapable of doing anything good, while Ed along with the rest of the team might have been crushed to death.'_

'Ed!', he called out. If he could neither move nor see, at least he could shout. Maybe that would get him a response. 'Ed, can you hear me?'

Silence was the only answer he got. Spike never felt so lost before in his life.

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><p><strong>Bit of a mean cliffhanger, sorry guys. Please let me know what you think. :) Reviews make me very happy.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, here's Chapter 5. Thank you all for the kind reviews, it made me really happy to see that you like the story and my writing style so far. If there's anything you don't like or think I should do better, please don't hesitate. :)**

**Enjoy, this one's a tad longer ..**

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><p>'Boss, none of the gang members has any relations with bombs. We got arms dealing, drugs and aggravated assault. Most of them have been to prison before.', Jules sat in the truck, talking to Greg and the rest of her team on the headset.<p>

'Okay, so that doesn't add up.'

'No, it doesn't. And check this out: I have talked to members of either gang and they accuse each other of luring them to the warehouse and planting that bomb.'

'Wait, so there's a third party involved?', Wordy frowned.

He, Lew and Sam had found a safe spot to start digging, using a heat sensor to determine where their teammates lay. They only saw one figure on the display, it was not moving but still warm, which means alive. They didn't know whether it was Spike or Ed.

They were just about to start digging, when the fire department arrived. Those guys were much better equipped and quick to set everything up and start.

'We have to assume that, yes.', Jules spoke in a firm voice. 'I'll keep looking.'

She too was worried about Ed and Spike. Knowing that at least one of them was alive was only a small relieve. She didn't think she could handle losing either of them. But thinking about that now, only made her emotional. She couldn't break down, not yet while they were still in danger.

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><p>Ed came to suddenly. He looked around a little confused as to where he was, a cough ripping from his lungs, that felt like he had inhaled a whole bag of raw sawdust. Pushing himself up and some debris off, he scrambled to his knees.<p>

What was left of the room swayed dangerously and his head pounded with a headache, that was only comparable to his worst hangover back in college. A groan escaped his lips involuntarily as his right hand instinctively reached up to touch the side of his head, only to come away bloody.

_'Keep it together, it's just a concussion. I need to find Spike.'_

Despite the head injury, Ed was thinking clearly and knew exactly what had transpired and led to this crap situation on the crappiest day of his whole career.

He finally stood up shakily, took out his flashlight and squinted his eyes against the abusing bright light.

Reaching up to touch the headset in his ear, he found it was still there, but made absolutely no sound. He took it out and looked at it. Broken. _'Crap!'_

'Spi..!', the intended yell came out as a hoarse whisper followed by another painful cough.

_'Maybe some cracked ribs as well.'_

He cleared his throat and tried again, this time succeeding. 'Spike! Buddy, do you hear me?'

_'Please be alive, Spike. We need you.'_

Around him was debris, some collapsed walls, half the ceiling had come down as well. Thick rebars and electricity cables hung out of the askew remains of the building. Dust was still corrupting the air he breathed and also made it harder to see.

'Spike!', he scanned the ground left and right frantically to see if there was any clue as to where the younger officer might be.

'Spike!', his voice sounded desperate now even in his own ears.

'Ed.', the faint noise came from his right, but he heard it. A new flame of hope was ignited, that sent adrenaline pumping through his veins.

'Spike, keep talking buddy. I'm coming for you! Just keep talking!', Ed made his way carefully over the rubble towards his teammates voice.

'Over here. Are you okay?', his voice sounded relatively strong, considering the circumstances.

Finally he climbed over the partially collapsed ceiling and saw Spike lying on the ground and looking up at him. With his hands he shielded his eyes from the bright flashlight.

'S'good to see you!'

'I'm good, Spike, I'm good.', he never felt so relieved in his life. 'I thought I'd lost you, buddy. How are you doing?'

Ed sank to his knees on his teammates left side and looked him over. Small pebbles and dust were covering most of Spike's uniform, making the usually dark fabric appear gray.

'Mm okay. My leg's stuck underneath the rubble .. think 's broken.', he slurred slightly and gestured to his right lower leg, which disappeared completely beneath the heavy debris.

Ed sighed. 'You tried pulling it out?'

Spike nodded. 'Was too painful.'

'Okay, let me check on your stomach first.'

He pulled Spike's shirt up to his chest exposing his abdomen. There was partially dried blood running down and pooling into the waistband of his trousers. It had started bleeding again, or never stopped in the first place, Ed didn't know. The ragged edges of the wound were also covered in dust, making it prone to infection.

Spike caught Ed's worried look and raised his head slightly to see. At the sight of the blood leaking hole in his stomach, his breath quickened.

Suddenly the pain, that had previously moved to the back of his mind, forced its way back into his conscience. He dropped his head back and groaned, his hands automatically moving towards the pain in an effort to somehow ease it. 'Ooooowwww'

But before he could touch his abdomen, strong hands gripped his own and forced them back down beside his body. 'I can't let you do that, Spike. This wound gets infected, sepsis sets in, trust me you do not want that.'

Ed's blue eyes showed worry, but also stared down at him firmly.

'_He knows what to do.'_, Spike returned the look, his face again contorted in pain.

'I'll try to find some water, or anything to desinfect the wound a little. I'll be right back', with that Ed patted his shoulder, turned around and walked away from him.

He knew that his search for a desinfectant or water was probably futile.

_'This place is abandoned, why would there be a bottle of water conveniently lying around?'_

Spike was so relieved when he heard Ed calling out for him.

When he finally saw for himself, that he was okay, the adrenaline began to wear off. Though he had a sluggishly bleeding head injury, he was walking, talking and in a clear state of mind.

Spike felt weak from the blood loss. He became increasingly aware of the pain in his stomach and leg.

He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep until rescue came, but if he was honest with himself, he was scared that he wouldn't wake up again.

So he fought bravely to keep the darkness at bay until his team leader returned to keep him awake.

Spike also started feeling a bit nauseous. He didn't think much of it, the pain was still the major sensation he felt. But as the minutes ticked by, the unpleasant feeling became more and more persistent. He grimaced trying to keep his stomach contents where they belonged.

_'How do I deserve this?'_

'Ed!', he called desperately. He didn't think he could get up without help again, much less roll over while his leg was stuck underneath the rubble. He also didn't plan on throwing up all over himself, doing it in front of Ed would be the lesser evil.

He heard footsteps rapidly approaching. 'Spike? What's wrong?'

Ed's worried face appeared in his peripheral vision, as he kneeled beside him and looked him over.

'Sick .., help me up.', was all he managed.

Putting the flashlight aside, Ed quickly put one arm around Spike's shoulders and pulled on his left arm with his free hand. He helped him lean slightly over to the right, just as his breakfast decided to make a reappearance.

The painful retching continued long after his stomach was empty. When he was finally done, Ed lowered him gently back to the ground.

Spike moaned in between trying to catch his breath.

'Okay, okay, I got you buddy. You're gonna be alright.', Ed tried to soothe him.

He looked over to the vomit, next to his young officer and involuntarily scrunched his nose.

There was the kind of vomit you'd expect to see, and then there was something that looked like coffee grounds mixed into it.

Spike was shaking like a leaf. He looked up at Ed, his deep brown eyes pain-filled and glassy.

'You should find a way outta here. If you can get out, maybe you can get help in.'

'No way, Spike. I'm not leaving you. We get out of here together', Ed used his calm, commanding voice, yet there was a hint of despair in it. He removed his vest and slid out of his SRU jacket.

Spike shook his head weakly. 'I'm not going anywhere like this.'

Ed was just about to cover him with his jacket and argue back, when Spike's face contorted in pain and he flailed desperately to get up again. 'Mm sick!'

Ed grabbed him and lifted his torso up just in time, as a wave of bright red blood flooded from Spike's mouth like a fountain.

He retched and coughed miserably and another gush of blood came out, as Ed supported his weak form. There was nothing else he could do, he felt so useless.

_'Oh god no, please don't let this be happening.'_

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><p><strong>Please let me know what you think .. I know, it's an evil cliffy again, but I also know that you like it. ;D<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took me a little longer this time, it was my birthday and I had to work a lot.**

**I'm just gonna say a thing or two about the reviews here:**

**Santiaga: thank you for reading my story. I'm so blessed that you took precious time to write such a thoughtful and intelligent masterpiece of review.**

**But allow me to clarify some points for you. ;)**

**First of all: In an emergency situation you make use of whatever is around to care for a wound. With a penetrating wound like the one I described, anyone who is not a complete idiot would make sure that the bleeding is stopped and the wound won't become infected. For the latter you indeed use water, if you have no other option (which is really basic first aid, but glad you find it so amusing). You should even use fresh urine, if nothing else is available. Surprise! I bet you thought that's unsanitary, but don't worry .. Compared to some other people I actually do my research and know how to do my job.**

**I'm sure the blow to Ed's head wasn't that strong, because he actually got his priorities straight and took care of a GSW before a broken leg. (I'm gonna get to that in this chapter btw.)**

**But hey, thanks for complementing me on the 'good story', with this new knowledge I do hope it doesn't turn into some 'comic nonsense' for you.**

**PS: Oh, really? Don't flatter yourself too much, hun, because despite whatever you think you have so brilliantly observed, I can asure you I haven't read a single one of your stories. I don't need someone elses literary property as inspiration. Good luck on finishing whatever you're writing.**

**Everybody else: Thank you all so much for reading and commenting. I'm so happy you like my story and writing and I appreciate all your reviews very much! :)**

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><p>'Boss, I got something!', Jules could barely hide her excitement.<p>

'Go ahead, Jules,'

'Okay, the dead Outlaw member, that was found in an alley was a young boy named Derek Morrow. He was only 15 years old, but has been a member of the gang for 2 years. He worked his way up and was pretty established for his age. The murderer has still not been found, but different members of the Blood Nation have been suspected. Turns out Derek's father is a chemist, currently working at a research facility with access to chemical agents needed for building a bomb.'

'Meaning he's got the knowledge, access and a motive. Good work, Jules. Do you have the address?', Greg asked in his usual calm manner.

'Yes, 1022 Ridgewood Drive, Scarborough.'

'Alright, everybody, you know what to do. Approach with caution, go for less lethal. Lethal if you have no other option. I'll stay here and keep you posted.'

'On our way, Boss.', Sam and the rest of Team One jogged over to the SUVs and drove off sirens blaring.

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><p>Throwing up for what felt like the umpteenth time, left Spike feeling even more dizzy and weak. The pain was gone. He couldn't control his body anymore and barely felt Ed gently lowering him back to the ground. He could hardly make sense of what his teamleader was saying, only snippets like 'stay with me' got through to him. He tried to hold onto that.<p>

_'Stay with me!'_, echoed in his head over and over again, until Ed's worried face drifted out of focus and it was finally dark.

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><p>His teammate looked like a ghost. A ghost that he was sure would haunt him in his worst nightmares. White as a sheet, blood flecking his teeth, mouth and chin. Eyes at half mast, shivering from the blood loss and barely breathing. Ed would never forget the way Spike looked that day.<p>

After his latest blood vomiting session, Spike had slumped back unconsciously. Ed was worried sick, that he wouldn't wake up again, but on the other hand grateful, that he had been spared to experience any more pain. He knew he needed to get Spike's broken leg free as soon as possible. All the better if his younger teammate didn't have to go through that on top of everything else.

Ed was desperate. A small part of him wanted to break down and cry. Cry because he wouldn't be able to take the loss of Spike. And losing him was exactly what was happening right before his eyes. There was nothing he could do to change that. Except be there for him, try to comfort his unconscious form with reassuring words and touches. And that was exactly why he couldn't allow himself to break down, as scared and hopeless as he was. He wasn't team leader for nothing. His job was to be strong and be there for his team whenever they needed him. So that is what he did.

Making sure that Spike was still out, Ed moved to his teammates right side, where his leg was buried under a thick layer of debris.

Carefully he started taking off the remains of the ceiling, brick by brick until he could make out the broken leg. It didn't look too bad from his point of view. The tibia didn't break the skin, thank God. Though that didn't mean that the bone was not fragmented and dislocated inside.

_'Please, please hurry and get us out of here. I don't know how much longer he will last.'_, he didn't know how many times he thought that in the last hour or so they've been there. Time was pretty much unmeasureable without daylight or anything else to go by.

'Hello!', a male voice yelled from his right, pulling him away from his thoughts on how to best set the leg and back into reality.

'Constables Lane and Scarlatti, are you there?'

_'Thank you, thank you, thank you!'_

'Yes!', Ed jumped up and followed the direction of the voice. 'We're here, we need help!'

He found himself looking at a small tunnel in the rubble and kneeled down to peek through. Daylight was blinding him, but before long a man's face appeared on the other side. He had dark hair and a round face with a moustache.

'Constable Lane, we are trying to get you and your teammate out. However the building is extremely unstable, we will expand this tunnel, so the both of you can crawl through. What is Scarlatti's condition?', the middle-aged man spoke in a calm voice, the faithful and reassuring demeanor reminding him of his own Boss.

'He's in a bad way. GSW to the stomach, he's been vomiting blood for some time now. He's in and out of consciousness and lost a lot of blood. His right leg is broken. You need to hurry!', Ed tried his best to keep up his strong teamleader voice, but he noticed it break at some points.

'Okay, EMS are on the scene and waiting. We will carefully expand the tunnel now. But you have to get Scarlatti here, because coming in would cost too much time and by the sound of it your Constable doesn't have that.'

Ed nodded quickly and made his way back to Spike, ignoring the room tilting dangerously to the right as he got up too fast.

He dropped to his knees next to him. 'Hey, buddy.'

Spike opened his eyes and tried to focus on him. Ed was smiling down at him excitedly. 'We're getting out of here now. Help is just around the corner. Literally. But I have to get you up and to them, because they can't come in here. Do you hear me, Spike?'

The only answer he got was Spike's eyelids drooping shut again.

Ed didn't know if his younger teammate even understood what he was saying. He figured it was better for him to be out cold if he had to pull him across the floor like some dead animal killed on a hunt.

He didn't dare lift him up in a fireman's carry again. The dizziness he felt whenever he got up and moved around was still too present. He couldn't risk dropping Spike or stumbling against some rubble and bringing the whole building down on them.

Positioning himself behind Spike, he sat him up and wrapped both arms under his and around his chest, grabbing each wrist with the other hand tightly. He lifted himself up, Spike following basically glued to his chest, and began to carefully walk backwards towards rescue.

From this angle he could see the younger man's lower leg being awkwardly bent inwards as he dragged him across the dirty floor. The sight almost made him puke. Spike groaned slightly, but otherwise didn't stir.

The relatively short way felt like a 3 km obstacle course, trying to avoid all sorts of bricks and not stumble over debris and hurt his teammate more. When he finally reached the tunnel, he lowered Spike gently to the ground. The tunnel was now indeed big enough for one person at a time to fit through.

'We're here. Are you ready?', Ed called through the opening.

'Yes, almost there. Secure your teammate with these belts, we'll pull him out carefully.', the middle-aged man tossed some safety belts through to Ed. He quickly wrapped them around Spike and signaled for the firemen to begin pulling.

As Spike disappeared out of his vision and into the bright daylight, a heavy weight lifted off his chest. He would get proper medical care now. Everything was going to be alright.

'Okay, Constable Lane it's your turn now.'

Ed crawled through the hole towards the bright light. He was greeted by the sight of firetrucks, EMS, ambulances, but most important, Greg. Their eyes met, his Boss was standing about 10 meters from him, looking both worried and relieved at the same time.

Ed looked around searching for Spike. He saw him about 5 meters to his left, lying on the ground, EMS leaning over him working frantically to save his life.

He wanted to run over, see what was happening and making sure that his friend was still alive.

Greg thwarted him just as he made the first step trying to break free from the arms of the firemen.

'Eddie, let them do their job. You need to get checked out yourself. There's an ambulance waiting for you.'

'Sir.', a young paramedic guided him gently towards the back of an ambulance.

'I'll see what I can find out about Spike.'

As he approached the two paramedics working on the tech expert, he got his first good look at him. Pale, clammy, bloodied, broken. Dying. They had him intubated and an IV started. His stomach was exposed and the paramedic just covered the still oozing wound with antiseptic gauze.

In a way he looked like he was sleeping. Not peaceful or relaxed though, lines of pain were creased on his dirt- and blood-caked face.

'How is he?'

'Bad.', the female replied matter of factly.

'He's hypovolemic due to the massive blood loss. His right leg's broken and the explosion must have enlarged the internal tear in his stomach, hence the blood vomiting. We're trying to stabilize him and get his volume up as we speak, but he needs surgery immediately.', her male colleague rattled off in a nicer manner.

Greg took off his basecap and ran his left hand over his face in a weary manner. It was a lot to take in, the prognosis didn't exactly look good.

As he was just about to turn around and walk back to Ed, said teamleader suddenly stood behind him.

'What are the news?', he stood with his hands on his hips.

Greg thought about arguing that he needed medical attention just as much as Spike did, but he knew better judging by the look on Ed's face.

'They're stabilizing him, but he needs surgery right away. He's in critical condition.'

'Sergeant Parker!', the male paramedic called as they were loading Spike in the ambulance. 'We're good to go now.'

'Where are you taking him?'

'Markham Stouffville Hospital is closest.', he jumped into the driver's seat and took off, sirens blaring.

'Okay, let's go Eddie.', they jogged over to the SUV and followed the ambulance closely.

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><p><strong>I think I'll finish this story in one more or two chapters max. <strong>

**Let me know what you think, as always. Intelligent and polite reviews only please. :)**


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